East Alabama girl wants animal rescue donations as birthday gifts

A Lee County girl wants to help others in a special way for her upcoming birthday.

Instead of receiving gifts for her birthday, Madison Wood wants to give something to pets in the Columbus area.

Madison will turn nine on Dec. 20. For her birthday party on Dec. 12, she's asking her friends and family to bring a donation that will go to help pets in need at Paws Humane.

She picked up a wish list from Paws Humane in Columbus of needed items. Wood says she loves all pets and wants to help make their life easier. Wood says her older sister helped her to come up with the idea.

"To help animals, cats, dogs to have food so they can live," Madison said. "The reason why I'm doing this is because I'm not needy and I want to give to the animals."

Madison passed out 40 invitations to her party and is hoping her friends can help. Her parents says they're supporting Madison with her efforts.

"When she first came to me I was pretty shocked. I asked her was she sure she wanted to give up birthday gifts to help animals. She was like, 'mom, I'm spoiled. I don't need anything. I rather see the animals get it,'" her mom, Christine Wood said.

Madison is an all around pet lover - she currently has six adult dogs, six puppies and a cat. Her mother is hoping she can inspire other kids and adults to give back to their community.

"She has a huge heart. While it shocked me, it made sense to me because she always had a big heart. When she sees anything about animals on TV or Facebook where animals are being mistreated, she'll cry about it. She has a big heart when it comes to animals," Christine Wood said.

The Wood family is hoping to drop off a truck load full of donations at the organization on the Monday after the birthday party.

Madison attends Wacoochee Elementary School in Lee County. Her mom says the school is also planning to help in some way.

For anyone who wants to help with donations for pets, you can drop them off at Paws Humane Society in Columbus in honor of Madison Wood.

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